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Plain English campaign news articles

Unhealthy habits

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Created on Thursday, 04 September 2014 09:26

We at the Campaign have spent plenty of time attacking the use of jargon in various industries. We have criticised those relying on waffle in banks, universities, supermarkets, and all manner of other industries.

However, when it comes to the NHS, the issue is a bit more serious than collaring deceitful salesmanship or ambiguous terms and conditions. We’re dealing with information that could seriously and directly damage someone’s health.

Fry's English Delight

The Campaign appeared on Stephen Fry's show, 'Fry's English Delight', episode entitled: 'Plain English'. To hear Chrissie and Tony on the show, follow this link to 'Fry's English Delight'.

Take a plain English diploma in September

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Created on Tuesday, 19 August 2014 15:39

We have limited spaces available on our diploma course starting with an introductory 2 day workshop on the 25 and 25 September 2014 in London.

Since we began in 1979, we have been offering courses in plain English. These courses give people an excellent grounding in plain-English techniques. We have developed the diploma course to give people a higher level of expertise. If you are trying to persuade other people in your organisation to write clearly, it helps to have a qualification in plain English.

Long-winded terms and conditions

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Created on Monday, 07 July 2014 10:18

HSBC head up a list of banking offenders hiding behind ludicrously long-winded terms and conditions.

The list, compiled as part of research by consumer group Fairer Finance, also embarrasses Norwich & Peterborough Building Society, Metro Bank, Natwest and Halifax, who all carry terms and conditions that somehow manage to run on incomprehensibly for over 25,000 words. HSBC’s terms and conditions, clocking in at a grim 34,162 words, are 5000 words longer than George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

Stop this EU nonsense now!

The EU is moving further and further away from Plain English, according to European Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly.

Her survey scathingly concludes that, not only is English misused and abused in the ‘Brussels Bubble’, it's been mangled and re-appropriated to the extent that it's now akin to a unique ‘sub dialect’.

O'Reilly, appointed by Parliament to oversee exactly how The European Union goes about its day-to-day business, is highly critical of the implications of what’s happening to English in the “bubble” in question. Mainly, that it’s at a far remove from largely proper use or corrective influence, and prone to the same kind of abuse and misuse that has meant that most types of business English, for example, are often nonsensical.

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